Barren Bug A La Mode
by isramadon
Summary: Join the curious Ranpha, agitated Forte, and polite Mint in their extensive search for the Lost Technology that has brought them to a barren desert planet. Surprises and comedy inside! Note: I rated it PG just to be safe...


Despite the time of day and the position of the sun in the sky, a red haze was beginning to cover the land like an average sunset would. Across the horizon, all that could be seen was humps of sand over and over again. The land was certainly not short of barren, and the landscape was nothing to marvel at. A few rocks thrown about here and there provided the only shade in the desert. No signs of life could be detected by the naked eye; save for a tiny group of people gathered lazily about one immensely large boulder.

Ranpha plucked up a pebble from her pile and, twisting it around in her fingers, flicked it accurately so it skipped across the sand. The young blonde gal had been sorting pebbles from sand for the last half hour or so, and she had developed quite a large stack of oddly misshapen rocks. Sagging further into the soft yet scorching sand, she murmured out of the corner of her mouth.

"This is so boring!" Not too far away sat a very curious looking pink stuffed animal that spoke up after catching word of Ranpha's thoughts.

"I don't understand why you can't be entertained by the simple yet complex beauty of this unnatural sunset; the way it glows so majestically is amazing. Of course, such thoughts are far too 'civilized' for one such as yourself, and I believe-," the floppy stuffed animal's rants were interrupted by a pebble so large one would consider it a rock. The pebble smacked into the middle of the animal's face, followed quickly by an insult from the annoyed Ranpha.

"Can it, will you?" Fuming, Ranpha got up and sauntered over to a scandalously dressed woman with red hair. "Exactly what are we doing again, Forte?"

"Ranpha, we've been over this a million times already! I'm using this hyperdrive mechanism to tap into the earthly waves of this planet using the latest ultra-sonic technology to pick up the patterns of any unusual life that could be considered interesting!" Forte frowned in a mix of concentration and agitation. Slumping herself into the ground, Ranpha sighed ungratefully.

"All of that made absolutely no sense to me," she spat. The long, blonde haired girl started making circle patterns in the sand, humming a lullaby to herself. It was then that the disconcerted Forte erupted.

"RANPHA, WILL YOU STOP THAT!! YOU'RE BEING SO ANNOYING! WHY DON'T YOU MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL AND...I DUNNO...DO SOMETHING USEFUL!!!" Forte, with or without anger, had absolutely no idea what Ranpha should do to be helpful. Saving Forte the time for having to come up with a stupid chore for Ranpha, a voice from behind the nearby boulder called to her.

"Ranpha, could you come help me please?" Ranpha jumped up and taunted Forte.

"See, she's nice about it!" Growling, Forte went back to her work. Ranpha sauntered happily over to a short, blue-haired girl tapping away at a laptop and sitting with her face towards the back of the boulder. Again, Ranpha had no knowledge of what the petit young lady was doing.

"I don't think anyone ever told me what you're up to, Mint," Ranpha chimed. With a polite attitude, the girl name Mint informed Ranpha the current status of her work.

"While Forte over there is searching for life forms, I'm scouring the land for intruders and searching deep underground for ruins and, hopefully, something emitting an energy wave that could be useful to us or useful to our search for the Lost Technology." Due to the fact that Mint's explanation was put into 'easy terms', Ranpha quickly picked up on her task to be performed. "Ranpha, I would like you to do the scouring of the land; it's a fairly simple and fun thing to do. I'm having a little trouble juggling the underground scavenge and the planet patrolling..." Mint plucked a pair of goggles from a nearby metal case and adjusted the small dials on its side. She handed the goggles over to Ranpha and began briefing her on the simple operation of the complex machinery. "If you put these goggles on your head and you will see the land all around you, just as normal binoculars would function. But with these, you can zoom in and out at great magnifications and, to patrol those areas beyond the horizon line, switch cameras." Reacting to Ranpha's awed gesture, Mint smiled at her. "That's right; we've planted nano-cameras in certain areas all along this planet. It was a rather simple thing to do, giving us a whole panorama of the landscape." Ceasing her lecture with a quick nod of her head, Mint went back to her laptop. Ranpha slipped on the goggles and began her extensive patrol. After what seemed like countless minutes, Ranpha slipped the goggles off and grabbed a candy bar out of her pocket. Munching nosily, Ranpha complained.

"My word, there is no one here! Not like anyone would care to come to this deserted place! Honestly, this patrol crap is pointless!" Scowling, Mint chided Ranpha.

"You'd be surprised; there are plenty of people who would try to steal our research! We cannot let all of our hard work go! Now please, Ranpha, keep watch of the area! You never know when someone may sneak up on us!!!" From somewhere behind the two girls came a deep voice that resembled a smooth, soothing liquid. The proclamation from the voice sent goose bumps up the girls' spines.

"That's right, you just never know when someone may sneak up on you."

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Well my first upload...yes I realize it took my many months until I finally uploaded, and I apologize. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter in my Galaxy Angel fanfic I can't say how many chapters there are going to be though; I have no idea lol. Well, I should go and let you all get back to your lives...but please review, okay?


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